No Dogs Allowed
by wryencounter
Summary: Birthday fic for a friend. Prompts was: cute spitfire with Brucely.


"Come on, babe, _please_," Wally begged.

"No," Artemis replied flatly for what was probably the thousandth time.

No matter how many times Wally asked her she was not going to agree to getting a puppy. Ever. Their small apartment was the perfect size for just the two of them. And no animals. Not even a fish.

Wally sighed and slid down in his seat next to her on the couch until his head was lying in her lap. Looking down at her irritating boyfriend she found a pout on his lips. "No," she repeated.

With a huff he rolled over so he was facing the television, and Artemis let one of her hands run through his hair.

And that seemed to be the end of that. For the next few weeks Wally didn't say anything about wanting to get a dog, and he didn't pester her with requests of agreeing to get one. Artemis had almost forgotten all about it until one day when she came home from class to be greeted by a white pit bull and a guilty looking ginger.

Ignoring the puppy prancing around her feet she fixed her boyfriend with a glare. With each passing second he visibly got more uncomfortable.

"This is exactly what it looks like." He said from the other end of the hall.

She silently walked past Wally to their bedroom and there was the familiar _swoosh_ing sound of him following after her.

"Come on, just look at him! He's adorable!" Wally said, and when she turned around she found him holding the puppy up to her eye level.

"He is adorable," she agreed. He was _really_ adorable. "But we are not keeping him."

"Why not?" Wally asked. She could practically hear him rolling his eyes at the unfairness of it all. (Unfair to him, at least.)

"Because one way or another he is going to become _my_ responsibility. I didn't sign up to take care of a messy boyfriend _and _ a puppy." She bent down to pick up a pair of Wally's dirty boxers to make her point.

"If I promise to clean more can we keep him?"

"No."

"If I promise to clean more and that you won't have to take care of him at all can we keep him?"

"No."

Wally groaned and set the puppy down, crossing his arms as he stood back up to stare at her. She stared back, only looking down momentarily as the puppy started growling, but he was only attacking Wally's shoelaces.

"A-dor-a-ble." Wally said, enunciating each syllable.

"Not. Keeping. Him." Artemis said.

"Why won't you even entertain the idea of keeping him?" Wally asked her.

"Because I don't want a dog."

"Everyone wants a dog."

"I don't."

"Give him one week." Wally suggested, to which Artemis simply raised a skeptical eyebrow at the redhead.

"Let's keep him for a week, and after a week if you really don't want to keep him, we'll get rid of him." The hope was evident in his voice.

She held his gaze for a moment, the puppy having wandered off a few minutes ago. God only knew how much trouble he was getting himself and Wally into.

She could handle a week, right? It probably wouldn't be that bad. And if it was they could get rid of him.

"One week. And I don't have to feed him, clean up after him, or let him outside, or take him for a walk, or _anything_. Not once." The blonde said. She hoped Wally knew he was just setting himself up for heartbreak. When the week was up she was sending the dog packing.

"Deal!" Wally said, pecking her on the cheek before running off to find his puppy.

"And clean up your laundry!" She shouted after him.

Later that night when they were getting ready for bed they were already having another argument about the puppy. (They had agreed not to name him until after the week was up, and then only if they wound up keeping him.)

"He is _not_ sleeping in our bed with us." Artemis said, staring over at the two of them.

The puppy was sitting in Wally's lap, tail wagging happily, and Wally was pouting at her again.

"Come on, it's just for a week, right?" He challenged.

After staring at him for another minute she caved. "Fine. But if he messes himself in our bed once you're both sleeping on the couch."

She got comfortable against her pillows as Wally turned off the light, the puppy getting comfortable in between them.

The next morning when she woke up Artemis had to fight the urge to laugh. Somehow in the middle of the night the puppy had managed to worm his way onto Wally's pillow and was laying half over the redhead's face. Snapping a quick picture with her phone she left the two where they were and got ready for her classes.

When she got home that evening (somehow Wally managed to start classes after her and finish before her) she was greeted by a puppy bounding down the hallway towards her. Bending down she scratched him behind the ears. When she stood up she was met with one of Wally's grins.

"What?" She asked, wondering what exactly he was grinning at.

"You're smiling." He replied simply.

"So?"

"Nothing," he said with a half shrug before turning back into the kitchen.

The third day they had the puppy was a Saturday and they were both home all day.

Much to Artemis' surprise she didn't have to lift a finger where the puppy was concerned unless she felt like petting him. Which was admittedly a lot. He was just small enough to curl up in front of her stomach when her and Wally were cuddling on the couch and watching TV.

Sunday was much the same.

She'd never say it out loud but she liked having the puppy around, and whenever Wally wasn't in the room she found herself paying more attention to him.

But on Monday Wally was the only one who had class.

"I'll be back in a few hours to let him outside," he said before pecking her on the lips.

"I got it," Artemis replied without even thinking.

"What?" Wally asked like he hadn't heard her.

"I said I got it, now go to class." She said as she rolled over to sleep in on her day off.

Wally left without a word.

But the shit eating grin he had on his face when he got home to Artemis sitting on the couch with the puppy curled up in her lap was impossible to get rid of for the rest of the night.

The last three days went by seamlessly, and the puppy almost seemed like a regular part of their lives. So when Artemis got home on Thursday night she was surprised to not be greeted by either the little white pit bull or her redheaded boyfriend.

Venturing into the living room she found the two of them napping on the couch together. Pausing in the doorway she stopped and watched them for a moment, a small smile on her lips.

She knew as soon as she woke Wally up he'd ask her whether or not they were keeping the puppy or not. Part of her wanted to tell him no just to be stubborn about it. But the rest of her wanted to keep him. He had somehow managed to worm his way into her heart. Just like a certain, annoying, redheaded speedster had.

Walking over to the couch she knelt on the floor next to it and ran her hand through Wally's hair until he woke up.

"Have a nice nap?" She asked when he finally opened his eyes.

"It wasn't too terrible. Though I gotta admit, waking up to a beautiful sight like yourself is pretty nice." He said with a sleepy grin.

"Flattery will get you nowhere, West." She replied with a smirk.

"Alright, alright—" he started, but she cut him off.

"He can stay."

"Really?"

"Yes. Apparently I like to keep around annoying and impossible companions who don't know how to clean up after themselves." She joked, but Wally's grin warmed her heart.

When he reached up to pull her down into a kiss she didn't fight it.

"Now we just have to name him." She said, reaching over to scratch the puppy behind his ears.

"Brucely."

"What?"

"I wanna call him Brucely," Wally said.

"I'm not even going to ask where you came up with that name."

Yipping happily Brucely clambered his way off the couch and headed towards the kitchen and presumably towards his food bowl.


End file.
